Josh TolanWhether you realize it or not, your company has a personality all its own. Your employees, values, and company culture all contribute to what makes your organization special. But does your hiring process let that uniqueness shine through?
A 2015 LinkedIn survey found that 83 percent of job seekers would change their mind about a company after having a bad interview experience. If your hiring process doesn’t accurately reflect how great your company is, you’ll miss out on talent. However, it can be difficult to make boring job descriptions, career webpages, and interview questions more interesting.
Here are four tips from hiring experts that’ll help you add a bit of personality to your hiring process:
1. Get creative with job descriptions
There are several ways a company can incorporate its culture into the hiring process, and it starts from the way they write and advertise their job description. Instead of listing a yawn-inducing set of job requirements and skill sets, organizations need to introduce the key elements of their culture — whether that be high energy, team oriented, or philanthropic — into the job description under a ‘You’ and ‘We’ section.
The ‘You’ section describes the attributes of the ideal candidate, which are linked to the organization’s cultural values, such as “you appreciate a good debate, even with your boss,” “you love to work in jeans,” or “you love volunteering on weekends.”
The ‘We’ section describes the cultural values the organization embraces, such as “we work to protect the environment” or “we care more about your intelligence and values than your experience.” This approach not only ensures organizations are attracting the right type of person for the position, but also filters out candidates who would not be a long-term fit for the company.
Keith Johnstone, Marketing Manager, Peak Sales Recruiting
2. Focus on your employer brand
Most candidates we speak with are in talks with at least 2-3 other companies. The hiring process is a candidate’s first exposure to a company, so it’s imperative that we project a unique and clear employer brand and culture through every step of the process. With the rise of sites like Glassdoor and the Muse, transparency in the job market is at an all-time high, and one bad candidate experience can reach the eyes of thousands of job seekers, negatively impacting your employer brand. Conversely, candidates who have a great experience can easily spread the word as well!
Our first line of defense to showcase our culture is through our job descriptions. We’re in the process of revamping them to focus more on deliverables and what a candidate can expect at specific touch points during their first year with us, which is very ‘Outbrainy’ and reflective of our culture. We also encourage the team to think about the most successful person on their team, and what qualities contribute to that. Together with our company values, that’s what we’re evaluating in prospective candidates and hoping to project through the process.
Claire Maikowski, Head of Talent Acquisition, Outbrain
3. Let candidates meet the team
It is important to have a hiring process that has more personality because it appeals to millennials, in particular. Many millennials are spending more and more time at work and would like to be around people who have great personalities. An organization can incorporate the company’s culture by having same-level employees talk to prospective employees, rather than the manager. This allows the new employee to understand how the business works and be able to form a camaraderie with the future co-workers.
A business can also improve the hiring process by allowing a tour of the company, as well as having paid lunches with the future co-workers. This allows a job seeker to understand the business and actually enjoy the experience.
AJ Saleem, Academic Director, Suprex Private Tutoring
4. Make the process engaging
It’s important to have personality in the hiring process because candidates are bombarded with routine, monotonous application processes. Recent research even points out that candidates don’t mind the length of the hiring process but prefer a high level of engagement. When you stand out to job seekers, you win not only a future hire, but you also win potential new customers and brand advocates.
Start adding personality to your hiring process by using real staff members on your hiring portal and web page. Create a welcome video using real staff members. Discuss benefits, opportunities for growth, and why people enjoy your culture.
Joey Price, CEO, Jumpstart:HR
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What are some other ways you can add some personality to the hiring process? Share in the comments below!
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